Monday, May 6, 2013

The YouTube video sharing website could launch a paid content platform for some of its specialist video channels as early as this week, according to The Financial Times.

It is reported that this would be an 'a la carte' service, which could have as many as 50 video channels and would have single channel subscriptions for as little as $1.99 a month. YouTube confirmed to CNET in February that it was developing such a service but did not indicate when it would be ready for subscribers.

YouTube declined to comment on a targeted launch date for the new pay service and reiterating earlier statements on the topic that it had "nothing to announce," but that it was "looking into creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our creators with another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the rental and ad-supported models we offer."

Obviously, a paid content platform would give the Google owned video site another revenue stream, while allowing channel operators to finance different content production, such as TV shows and movies, a source said.

According to the report, YouTube has approached a handful of producers about developing content for a subscription platform that the video sharing website had hoped to launch this year, and that it was also mulling a plan to charge for other items, such as entire libraries of videos, live events, and even self-help or financial advice shows; according to an AdAge report in January.

Not long after that AdAge report, two lines of code appeared in YouTube for Android that referred to paid channel subscriptions. The code, apparently intended to generate messages on users' screens, say: "You can only subscribe to this paid channel on your computer," and "You can only unsubscribe from this paid channel on your computer."

Looks like the Cable paid subscription channel model is moving over to the Internet - viva la revolucion!!